The ozone hole and climate change

Lorenzo M. Polvani, Professor at Columbia University (New York), will speak at École Polytechnique about the ozone hole and climate change on Monday, April 13. This presentation is part of the conference cycle on energy and environment organised to prepare the COP21.

A conference on the topic "The ozone hole and climate change" will be given by Lorenzo M. Polvani, Professor of applied mathematics and of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Columbia University (New York), Alliance Visiting Professor at École Polytechnique, on Monday, April 13 at 4pm.This presentation is part of the conference cycle on energy and environment organised by the Coriolis Institute to prepare the Paris Climate Conference 2015 (COP21) and the debates on energy transition. The conference will be in English.

Presentation of the conference:Unlike well-mixed greenhouse gases, the radiative forcing of climate due to observed stratospheric ozone loss in the second half of the 20th Century is very small. In spite of this, much new evidence has emerged in the last decade showing that the formation of the ozone hole has caused profound changes in the entire Southern Hemisphere climate system, starting from the observed poleward shift of the midlatitude jet in the summertime: this has been linked to changes in tropospheric and surface temperatures, clouds and cloud radiative effects, precipitation at both middle and low latitudes, as well as temperature and circulation changes in the ocean, and possibly the cryosphere. Similarly, the projected closing of the ozone hole will figure prominently in future climate change, with its impacts expected to largely cancel the impacts of increasing GHGs during the next half-century.

The Coriolis conferences are meant for everyone to understand without need of a huge scientific background. The conference lasts for about 45 minutes and is followed by questions with the spokesperson.This conference is open to everyone: researchers from all fields, students, PhDs, post-docs, staff members, visitors.